Black Heroes of Mathematics Conference 2025
2025 is a special year as this is the 100 year anniversary of the first Black person in the world to get a PhD in mathematics. Dr Elbert Cox, an African-American, received his PhD on the 26th September 1925 from Cornell University.
To celebrates this, on the 1st and 2nd October 2025, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), International Centre for Mathematical Sciences (ICMS), Isaac Newton Institute (INI), London Mathematical Society (LMS) and Mathematical Association (MA) will join forces with the charity Big Ideas to deliver not only a mathematical conference but a Black Heroes of Mathematics Youth Festival as well.
The conference will be a hybrid event, and this event will be free to attend across the globe.
The Youth Festival will be a virtual event open to schools across the United Kingdom. If you are a school and wish to attend the Youth Festival, please email virginia.crompton@big-ideas.org.
Please follow the hashtag #BLACKPHD100 on social media!
Programme (all timings in BST)
Wednesday 1 October:
| Time | Speaker |
| 12:00 | Registration open - tea and coffee served on arrival |
| 13:00 | Welcome from organisers |
| 13:10 |
Juliet Ojiako (in person) Elbert Cox: The First Black PhD Mathematician |
| 13:50 |
Syreeta Charles-Cole (in person) Mathemetics, me and the Data of Life: Journey of a Cultural Metrologist |
| 14:40 | BREAK |
| 14:50 |
Gloria Antwi-Botchway (online) Breaking Boundaries: My Journey in Mathematics and the Mission to Inspire the Next Generation of Women in STEM |
| 15:30 |
Teika Haris (online) Dudley Weldon Woodard and his involvement in the establishment of the graduate program in mathematics at Howard University |
| 16:20 | BREAK |
| 17:00 |
Panel (in person) TBC |
| 18:30 | RECEPTION |
Thursday 2 October:
| Time | Speaker |
| 09:30 | Registration open - tea and coffee served on arrival |
| 10:00 | Welcome from organisers |
| 10:10 |
Aondoyima Ioratim-Uba (in person) Nature vs. Newton: The Physics of Living Systems. |
| 10:50 |
Flavia Santos (in person) Scoping Maths Anxiety in Our Community - Updated |
| 11:30 |
Jordan Marajg (in person) A mathematician's perspective on modelling a spacetime scattering problem |
| 12:10 | LUNCH |
| 13:00 |
Mark Richards (in person) From Air Quality to STEM Equity |
| 14:00 |
Panel (in person) TBC |
| 15:30 | END |
Full agenda, speakers, titles and abstracts can be viewed here.
Timings and speakers are subject to change.
There will be tea and coffee served at the start of each day plus each break, and a sandwich lunch will be provided during the lunch break on Day 2 with vegetarian, vegan and fish options available. You are also welcome to bring your own or go out for lunch.
Organising Committee; Nira Chamberlain (IMA); Alex Liu, (ICMS); Troy Astarte (BSHM); Liz Norfolk (IMA); Oliver Colquhoun-Driscoll (IMA); Kieran O'Connor (LMS); Tanniemola Liverpool (University of Bristol); Christie Marr (INI); Angela Tabiri (AIMS);, Frank Neumann (LMS)
Accessibility
The building currently has stepped access only to the raised ground floor and lower ground floor entrances
An accessible toilet is located at lower ground floor level.
Please see the LMS website for further details on accessibility
Registration
**Please note that if you intend to attend both days, you will need to register for each day for both in person and/or online registraion - registering for one day does not include entry for the other.**
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Day 1 - Wednesday 1 October
- Click here for in-person registration.
- Click here for online registration. You will receive the link to the meeting upon registration, as well as an automated reminder email sent closer to the time.
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Day 2 - Thursday 2 October
- Click here for in-person registration.
- Click here for online registration. You will receive the link to the meeting upon registration, as well as an automated reminder email sent closer to the time.
If you have any queries on any of the above, please contact lmsmeetings@lms.ac.uk